"...- hearsal and worry." Astaire hung up his dancing shoes years ago he was near- ly 70 by then. He took care of himself and stayed active in the entertainment business. He lived a full life, so his death ... the latest campaign contri- butions, give that fella a decent tip. He's all right. Knows how to treat a man of The Dancer He Left Us a World of Magic That FredAusterlitz sure had some nerve! Thinking he could ... can dance a little." Fortunately, RKO and MGM were willing to give him a chance. Otherwise, the world might have forgotten Fred As- taire. And that would have been a crying shame. For FredAstaire. who ... of the immortal pair dancing their way to serendipity. Fred ..."

"...CLEARING High 75. Weather: A-2. THE 4 19S7 Tne Herald Corrtpary SYRACUSE, NX TUESDAY, JUNE 23, 1987 30 CENTS Friends Recall 'America's Greatest Dancer' Actor FredAstaire, who died Monday, poses in customary ... white tie and tails in 1937. Los Angtlos LOS ANGELES FredAstaire, whose style, elegance and graceful approach to movement made him the most acclaimed dancer in motion picture history, died early Monday ... that troubled studio by earning a reported million. Astaire was born in Omaha, Neb.. May 10, 1899, as FrederickAusterlitz, the son of an Austrian immigrant who had gone into the beer business. As a very young ... star Rudolf Nureyev called him "the..."

"...the music and If FredAstaire and his costars made it together it was cheek to Every one of the stories about his death at 88 included the terse notes from his first screen test Cant cant dances a Every one ... hate most is said this Three generations now pay him the compliment of their latenight Maybe it is nostalgia alone that draws us to this flawless and that makes his passing page one But I dont think FRED ... couldnt help wondering how the man would have fared in films to There was no angst in Nor any Nor any heavy If FredAstaire was in a he was dressed in silk If FredAstaire took a woman in his it was to face ... of them included the telling remark of his old..."

"...How could it be any better than that There were those difficult Depression Years when the uplifting Astaire performances gave at least for a a chance to forget their many other pro Since his death ... who secretly aspired to the kind of free and easy lifestyle a famed singerdanceractor epitomized on the movie The late FredAstaire on film gave such dreamers a semblance of The sight of this physically ... Monday at age it is more ap parent than ever that FredAstaire not only was a notable gentleman on the screen but just as genuine as a human be One observer put it beautifully flashing feet and limber legs ... nor since his has dancingonfilm been more thoroughly understood and realized Yet it is most important to keep emphasizing that Fred ..."

"...his he moved smoothly from dancing to dramatic FredAstaire with his dancing partner Ginger Rogers in New York in 1982 in United Press International Photo front of one of their old movie Astaire died ... hoofers of their formed a fraternity of learned of his friends death during an appearance at the University of Although we have lost one of the greatest dancers who ever FredAstaire will always be immortal ... Monday at Hollywood praises his career HOLLYWOOD UPII As news of Fred As taires death Monday spread throughout the film tributes from his peers revealed that the native taught Hollywood a lasting lesson ... in elegance and who was admitted to Century Cily Hos pital..."

"...obituaries, I couldn't help wondering how the man would have fared in films today. There was no angst in As- taire. Nor any violence. Nor any heavy breathing. If FredAstaire was in a bed- room, he was dressed ... -night attention. Maybe it is nostalgia alone that draws us to this graceful, flawless star, and that makes his passing Page One news. But I don't think so. Fred, Astaire did something that seems truly remarkable ... in silk pa- jamas. If FredAstaire took a woman in his arms, it was to face the music and dance. If Fred As- taire and his co-stars made it to- gether, it was cheek to cheek. Every one of the stories about ... - agan: "He was the ultimate dan- cer the dancer who made it all look so..."

"...to the Unami according to business manager Gene P. Abel. Hollywood dance Fred died In a Los Angeles hospital Monday al age 88. He is shown here in a 1984 photograph. FredAstaire dies in wife's arms LOS ANGELES ... Fred who epitomized Holly- wood elegance for 25 years danc- ing in top hat and tails with Gin- ger Rogers and other died of pneumonia Monday in his wife's arms. He was 88. Astaire died at Century City ... Robyn whom he mar- ried in 1980. died holding onto She said he asked her to share his last moments with the fans of his dozens of hit movie musicals. Astaire's wife said that at his request none of his ... Editorial Emphasis Index 18 Legals 39 Movies 14-17..."

About Fred Astaire

Fred Astaire was an American film and Broadway stage dancer, choreographer, singer and actor. His stage and subsequent film career spanned a total of 76 years, during which he made 31 musical films. He was named the fifth Greatest Male Star of All Time by the American Film Institute. He is particularly associated with Ginger Rogers, with whom he made ten films.

Born Frederick Austerlitz into a wealthy family on May 10, 1899 in Omaha, Nebraska, the son of Johanna "Ann" (née Geilus) and Frederic "Fritz" Austerlitz (born September 8, 1868, as Friedrich Emanuel Austerlitz). Astaire's mother was born in the United States to Lutheran German immigrants from East Prussia and Alsace, while Astaire's father was born in Linz, Austria, to Jewish parents who had converted to Catholicism.

Astaire studied dancing from the age of four. In 1906 he formed an act with his sister, Adele, that became a popular vaudeville attraction. The two appeared briefly in the Mary Pickford film Fanchon the Cricket (1915) and made their Broadway debut in Over the Top (1917). They achieved international fame with stage hits that included For Goodness Sake (1922), Funny Face (1927), and The Band Wagon (1931). When Adele retired after marrying Lord Charles Cavendish in 1932, Astaire made a screen test, receiving the verdict from executives, “Can't act, can't sing. Balding. Can dance a little.” He was nevertheless cast as a featured dancer in the Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer production Dancing Lady (1933), which starred Joan Crawford, Clark Gable, and the Three Stooges.

Also in 1933 Astaire was paired with Ginger Rogers in the RKO Radio Pictures production Flying Down to Rio. They were a sensation, stealing the picture from stars Delores del Rio and Gene Raymond, and public demand compelled RKO to feature the pair in a classic series of starring vehicles throughout the 1930s, with The Gay Divorcee (1934), Top Hat (1935), and Swing Time (1936) often cited as the best of the lot. Although Astaire worked well with several leading ladies throughout his career, his partnership with Rogers had a special chemistry. Their respective elegance (Astaire) and earthiness (Rogers) rubbed off on one another, and it has often been said that he gave her class and she gave him sex appeal. Their dance routines, often in the midst of sumptuous Art Deco settings, were intricate tap or graceful ballroom numbers that served as sophisticated statements of romantic love. Only once—in Carefree (1938)—did Astaire and Rogers share an on-screen kiss, and then only in a dream sequence.

Astaire's immensely popular dancing style appeared relaxed, light, effortless, and largely improvised. In reality, he was a hard-working perfectionist who tirelessly rehearsed routines for hours on end. Working in collaboration with legendary choreographer Hermes Pan for his films with Rogers, Astaire eschewed the then-popular Busby Berkeley approach to filmed musicals and its emphasis on special effects, surreal settings, and chorus girls in ever-changing kaleidoscope patterns. Instead, Astaire revolutionized the movie musical by simplifying it: solo dancers or couples were shot in full-figure, and dances were filmed with a minimum of edits and camera angles. He is regarded as a pioneer in the serious presentation of dance on film.

After the last RKO Astaire-Rogers film in 1939, Astaire appeared with various partners such as Eleanor Powell, Rita Hayworth (whom Astaire cited as his favourite on-screen partner), and Lucille Bremer. He retired temporarily in 1946 but returned to the screen in 1948 and appeared in a series of Technicolor musicals for MGM that, next to his films with Rogers, constitute his most highly regarded body of work. Several of Astaire's most famous dance routines appear in these films, such as the slow-motion dance in Easter Parade (1948), the dance with empty shoes in The Barkleys of Broadway (1949, his only reunion with Ginger Rogers), the ceiling dance and the duet with a hat rack in Royal Wedding (1951), and the dance on air in The Belle of New York (1952). The best of Astaire's films during this period was The Band Wagon (1953), often cited as one of the greatest of film musicals, and which featured Astaire's memorable duet with Cyd Charisse to the song “Dancing in the Dark.” Astaire's run of classic MGM musicals ended with Silk Stockings (1957), after which his screen appearances were mostly in nondancing character roles. He continued to dance with new partner Barrie Chase for several Emmy Award-winning television specials throughout the 1950s and '60s, and he danced again onscreen in Finian's Rainbow (1968) and for a few steps with Gene Kelly in That's Entertainment, Part II (1976).

In addition to Astaire's immeasurable contributions to the art of dance, he was also noted for his quintessentially American vocal style. Although possessing a rather thin-toned tenor voice, Astaire received much praise from jazz critics for his innate sense of swing and his conversational way with a song. Several compilations have been issued of Astaire songs from film soundtracks, but his best vocal recordings were those he undertook in the early 1950s with jazz combos led by pianist Oscar Peterson. They have been released under several titles on various LP and CD collections over the years.

Astaire's most notable dramatic roles were in On the Beach (1959); The Pleasure of His Company (1962); The Towering Inferno (1974), for which he received an Oscar nomination for best supporting actor; and Ghost Story (1981), his final film. He was awarded an honorary Academy Award for his contributions to film in 1950, and he received a Life Achievement Award from the American Film Institute in 1981. Despite the many accolades for his unquestionable greatness, Astaire remained as modest and elegant as the characters he portrayed. As he said in his autobiography, Steps in Time (1959), “I have no desire to prove anything by it. I just dance.”